Guns and Ammo Found Canalside

A cache (or two) of firearms and ammunition in garbage bags, pails and a violin case was uncovered yesterday, Jan. 4, near Fletcher’s Boat House on Canal Road NW, about two miles north of Key Bridge.

On a morning walk along the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, a woman noticed the violin case in a pile of debris by a stone wall. Inside were one or two guns. (Reports differ. WTOP said “two guns”; the Washington Post said “at least one firearm,” described by U.S. Park Police Sgt. Anna Rose as a long gun.)

The walker brought her find to the attention of the authorities, who discovered additional weapons and ammunition stashed near the towpath, again amid trash, about a quarter of a mile north. None of the weapons was believed to be loaded. Canal Road between Reservoir Road and Arizona Avenue and nearby trails were temporarily closed. A bomb squad determined that the area was explosive-free.

Violin cases were apparently less popular containers for submachine guns among real-life gangsters than those on screen. The first film to depict a gun carried in a violin case is thought to be “The Doorway to Hell,” released by Warner Bros. in 1930, which starred James Cagney in his second motion picture.